Musical instrument rack



J. A. ANDERSON MUSICAL INSTRUMENT RACK May 15, 1951 Filed Jan. 5, 1947INVENTOR. BY 4247M fl. flin /w ma @2. 6 M

Patented May 15, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT DFFI'CE 8 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in a musical instrument rack.

The principal objects of this invention are:

First, to provide a novel form of musical instrument rack which isreadily collapsible into acompact size for carrying-in the pocket orcase of a musical instrument.

Second, to provide a collapsible instrument rack with novel interlockingmembers which when erected. will form a rigid, support for one or moremusical instruments.

Third, to provide a collapsible rack for musical instruments which maybe erected or collapsed with a minimum of eifortl Other objectspertaining tothe details and economies of the invention will be apparentfrom the following description and claims.

The drawings, of which there is one sheet; illustratea' preferred formof my instrument rack.

Fig. l is a perspective view of my rack in, erected position.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of my rack in collapsed position.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary cross: sectional view along the line 33 in Fig.4.

Fig. 451's a fragmentary vertical cross sectional view through theinterconnected parts of my rack. and. showing the parts in erectedposition.

Fig; is a fragmentary cross sectional" View along the line 5'-5 in Fig.4.

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view alon the line 6-6 in Fig. 1.

My rack is designed primarily for the use ofreed instrument playersandis designed to support a musical instrument such as a saxophone and oneor more clarinets within convenient reach of. the musician.

The rack consists of a pair of side leg members I? joined together by a.lapped knuckle hinge joint indicated at 2. so-that the legs areswingableabout a hinge bolt 3 between an aligned extended position asillustrated in- Figs. 1, 3 and 5- and a side by side collapsed positionas illustrated in Fig. 2 and by the dotted lines in Fig. 5. The leftside leg I1 is provided with a longitudinally extending tongue 4 whichis arranged to fitwithin a mating groove formed on the top of' alowerfront leg 5 when the lower leg is rotated around the. hinge bolt to anerected position approximately perpendicular to the side legs; I. Therear sides of the connected ends of the side legs I are provided withvertically extending notches 6 (see Figs. 4 and 5)- which are alignedwhen the side legs. are in extended position and which are arranged toreceive the forward; end of the vertical flange l formed on (Cl.248-127l the underside of a rearle 8. The rear leg 8 has its forward endlapped over the right side leg I and is provided with a slot 9 on itsforward end which. passes the hinge bolt 3, the hinge bolt beingprovided with a flattened portion H] on its shank so that the hinge bolt'isheld against rotation. in the rear leg 8. All of the legs areprovided with. downturned ends ll forming feet of suitable lengths sothat the legs will stand in a level position on the floor.

Positioned above the legs. of the rack is a lower support member [2 ofrearwardly opening channe1-shaped cross section having a straight upperportion merging at its lower end with a rearwardly extending return bendportion which terminates in an arm M extending at an obtuse angle withrespect to the upper portion of. the arm. The web of the lower end 14and the reversed curved portion I3 of the lower support member define aslot l5. through which the upper end of the hinge bolt 3 extends.surface 'of the. web of the lower support arm is cut. away or reduced inthickness as at it along the slot l 5 so that the head of the hinge boltmay slide easily along the slot when the hinge bolt is slightlyloosened. A knurled thumb screw IT is provided on the lower end of thehinge belt for clamping the legs and lower support memher in eithercollapsed or. erected position.

The upper end of the lower support member defines a shallow groove it onthe rearside thereof and an aperture for receiving the square shank of ashort coupling bolt IS. The groove Hi is arranged to receive a matingtongue formed on the forward side of an upper support member 20 when theupper and lower members are in aligned relationship. A wing nut 2| isprovided on the bolt 89 for clamping the upper and lower memberstogether. The upper member 20 is turned slightly backwardly from thelowersupport and is provided at its upper end with a furtherrea-rwardlyturned tip 22 defining'a slot- 23 openin to one side of the member andadapted to receive a stud bolt mounted in the center of a U-shapedsupport bracket 24. A thumb-screw 25 is provided on the stud forclamping the upper bracketto the upper support member. Due to therearwardly turned tip and arm of the upper support member the upperbracket 24 substantially overhangs the rear leg 8.

Thestraight portion of thellc-wer support member til definesa slot 2Earranged to pass a stud secured to thecenter of a lower Us-hapedsupportbracliet 2?. clamping the lower bracket on the lower support arm.Theenclsol thesid'elegs- I definet'hre'aded The upper A wing nut isprovided for 3 apertures 29 for removably supporting suitable pinsindicated by dotted lines at St for supporting clarinet-s or othermusical instruments having straight barrels and the U-shaped supportbrackets 24 and 2? are arranged to conveniently support a saxophone.

As will be most readily seen in Fig. 2 the rack may be collapsed into avery compact shape by loosening the thumb screw H and wing nuts 2!, 25and 28. The upper support bracket 2 may be removed from the uppersupport member and the lower support bracket may be turned into theplane of the lower support member l2. The upper support arm 20 may thenbe rotated to lie alon the back of the lower support arm and may beclamped in this position by retightening the wing nut 21, the rearwardlyturned upper portion of the upper arm providing clearance for the wingnut. The lower support member may be slid forwardly to move the hingebolt it along the slot [5, the arm rotating backwardly toward the reararm l2 as the head of the hinge bolt passes along the return bend of thelower support arm. It will be noted that the side flanges of the lowersupport member overlap and engage the sides of the rear leg 3maintaining the rear leg and lower support member in alignedrelationship. The rear leg 8 may then be pulled backwardly to move thesquare shank is of the hinge bolt to the forward end of the slot 9 whichwill move the flange '5 of the rear leg out of the notches in the sidelegs I. The side legs may then be rotated into side by side collapsedposition underneath the rear leg 8 and the front leg may be dropped awayfrom the left side leg to clear the groove 4 from its mating tongue sothat the front leg may be rotated into an aligned position below theside legs L. If desired the thumb screws ii and wing nut 2! may then betightened to clamp the parts of the racks in collapsed position. Itshould be noted that the cut away portion I3 of the web of the lowersupport member permits the rack to be collapsed or erected with a versmall motion of thethumb screw ll. As soon as the hinge bolt is loosenedsufficiently toslide the lower support member under the head of thehinge bolt, the cut away portion l6 will automatically providesufficient clearance to drop the front leg 5 below the tongue on theleft side leg.

The rack is thus provided with rigid interlocking members in botherected and collapsed position so as to firmly support the instrumentsplaced thereon and is still readily collapsed into a short compactbundle which is no longer than the rear legs. The rearwardly extendingcharacter of the support arm provides a support readily adapted toreceive the curved form of a saxophone and the rack is easil and quicklyadjusted to either erected or collapsed position.

Relative terms such as right and left, front and back, upper and lowerhave been used for convenience of description only since obviously thetongue and groove joints and relative lapping of the endsof the legmembers could be reversed and still produce the same interlockingresults. I have thus described a highly practical embodiment of my rackadapted for supporting saxophones and clarinets and have not attemptedto show various modifications thereof for supporting other instrumentsas such modifications should be readily apparent without furtherdisclosure.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A collapsible musical instrument rack comprising a pair of legshaving a lapped knuckle hinged joint between the inner ends thereof and'foldable into side by side relationship, the inner ends of said legshaving vertical notches therein which are aligned when said legs areextended,

a third leg having a tongue and groov locking engagement with said pairof legs when in extended position, a fourth leg having a lappingengagement with said other legs and having a slot in the inner endthereof, a common hinge bolt connecting said legs and extending throughsaid slot, said fourth leg having a tongue engageable in said notches insaid pair of legs to form a tongue and groove locking engagement inerected position releasable by moving said fourth leg longitudinally ofthe leg relative to said hinge bolt, a lower support member having areturn curved lower end and with flanges engageable with the sides ofthe uppermost of said legs, said lower member defining a slot along thereturn curve thereof through which said hinge bolt extends, said hingebolt having a flattened shank engageable with said slot in said fourthleg to prevent relative rotation therebetween, a nut threaded on saidhinge bolt for clamping said legs and member together, an upper memberhaving a releasable lapped tongue and groove pivoted joint with theupper end of said lower support member, and instrument support bracketsreieasably secured to said upper member and said lower member.

2. A collapsible musical instrument rack comprising a pair of legshaving lapped knuckle hinged joint between the inner ends thereof andfoldable into side by side relationship, the inner ends of said legshaving vertical notches therein which are aligned when said legs areextended, a third leg having a tongue and groove locking engagement withsaid pair of legs when in extended position, a fourth leg having alapping engagement with said other legs and having a slot in the innerend thereof, a common hinge bolt connecting said legs and extendingthrough said slot, said fourth leg having a tongue engageable in saidnotches in said pair of legs to form a tongue and groove lockingengagement in erected position releasable by moving said fourth leglongitudinally of the leg relative to said hinge bolt, a lower supportmember having a return curved lower end, said lower member defining aslot along the return curve thereof through which said hinge boltextends, said hinge bolt having a flattened shank engageable with saidslots in said fourth leg and lower support member to prevent relativerotation therebetween, a nut threaded on said hinge bolt for clampingsaid legs and member together, an upper member having a releasablelapped tongue and groove pivoted joint with the upper end of said lowersupport member, and

instrument support brackets releasably secured to said upper member andsaid lower member.

3. A collapsible musical instrument rack comprising a pair of side legmembers having a knuckle hinge joint between the inner ends there.- ofand foldable between an extended and'a side by side relationship, theinner ends of said legs having vertical notches therein which arebrought into aligned cooperating relationship when said legs areextended, a rear leg having a flat inner end lapped upon the joint ofsaid side legs and provided with a vertically projecting flange theforward end of which is arranged to engage said notches when said legsare erected, a front leg having a lapped interlocking engagement withthe inner ends of said side legs when said legs are erected, a commonhinge bolt extending through the inner ends of said legs, said rear legdefining a slot through which said bolt extends whereb said rear leg ismovable longitudinally of itself to disengage the flange thereon fromsaid notches, a support member having an extending bend on the lower endthereof, said bend defining a slot through which said hinge bolt extendswhereby said member may be slid along said hinge bolt to tilt the upperend of the member between a generally horizontal position overlying theupper of said legs and a rearwardly sloping erected position, and aclamping member on said hinge bolt for clamping said legs and supportmember together, the thickness of said support member being reducedtoward the top thereof and along said slot whereby a small movement ofsaid clamping member will permit a greater loosening of said legs bymoving said support member to position said bolt in the thinned portionof said support to permit disengagement of the lapped interlockingengagement of said front leg.

4. A collapsible musical instrument rack comprising a plurality of legmembers having an interlocking and hinge joint between the inner endsthereof and foldable into side by side relationship, a common hinge boltextending through the inner ends of said legs, said bolt having aflattened surface non-rotatably engaging one of said legs, said one legdefining a slot through which said flattened surface extends wherebysaid one leg is movable longitudinally of itself to disengage part ofthe interlocking portion of said joint, a support member having a bendon the lower end thereof, said bend defining a slot through which saidhinge bolt extends whereby said member may be slid along said hinge boltto tilt the upper end of said support member between a generallyhorizontal position overlying said legs and a rearwardly slopingposition, and a clamping member on said hinge bolt for clamping saidlegs and member together.

5. A collapsible musical instrument rack comprisin a plurality of legmembers having an interlocking and hinge joint between the inner endsthereof and foldable into side by side relationship, a common hinge boltfor said joint extending through the inner ends of said legs, a supportmember having a return bend on the lower end thereof, said return benddefining a I slot through which said hinge bolt extends whereby saidmember may be slid along said hinge bolt to tilt the upper end thereofbetween a generally horizontal position overlying said legs and arearwardly sloping position, the walls along the sides of said slotdecreasing in thickness along said slot toward the rear thereof, and aclamping member on said hinge bolt for clamping said legs and membertogether.

6. A collapsible musical instrument rack comprising a plurality of legmembers having an interlocking and hinge joint between the inner endsthereof and foldable into side by side relationship, a common hinge boltfor said joint extending through the inner ends of said legs, said bolthaving a flattened surface non-rotatably engaging one of said legs, saidone leg defining a slot through which said flattened surface extendswhereby said one leg is movable longitudinally of itself to disengagepart of the interlocking portion of said joint, a support member havinga bend on the lower end thereof, said bend defining a slot through whichthe flattened portion of said hinge bolt extends whereby said member maybe slid along said hinge bolt to tilt the upper end thereof between agenerally horizontal position overlying said legs and an erectedposition, and a clamping member on said hinge bolt for clamping saidlegs and member together, said member being tapered in thickness alongsaid slot.

7. A collapsible musical instrument rack comprisin a plurality of 1egmembers having an interlocking and hinge joint between the inner endsthereof and foldable into side by side relationship, a common hinge boltfor said joint extending through the inner ends of said legs, said bolthaving a flattened surface non-rotatably engaging one of said legs, saidone leg defining a slot through which said flattened surface extendswhereby said one leg is movable longitudinally of itself to disengagepart of the interlocking portion of said joint, 2. support member havinga bend on the lower end thereof, said bend defining a slot through whichthe flattened portion of said hinge bolt extends whereby said member mayhe slid along said hinge bolt to tilt the upper end of said supportmember between a generally horizontal position overlying said legs andan erected posi-- tion, and a clamping member on said hinge bolt forclamping said legs and member together.

8. A collapsible musical instrument rack comprising a plurality of legmembers having an interlocking and hinge joint between the inner endsthereof and foldable into side by side relationship, a common hinge boltfor said joint extendin through the inner ends of said legs, a supportmember having a bend on the lower end thereof, said bend defining a slotthrough which said hinge bolt extends whereby said member may be slidalong said hinge bolt to tilt the upper end thereof between a generallyhorizontal position overlying said legs and an erected position, and aclamping member on said hinge bolt for clamping said legs and membertogether in erected position.

JOSEPH A. ANDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,278,318 Edsall Sept. 10', 19181,464,279 Hindley Aug. 7, 1923 2,007,574 Lang July 9, 1935

